Dragline scraper



Apri1l4, 1953 R. HENDERSON ETAL 2,634,521

' DRAGLINE SCRAPER Filed June 2, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 JNVENTOR. RDEiERT HENDERSEIN WILLIAM K.MEEL|:1THL|N By /M rm Ap i 1953 R. HENDERSON EI'AL 2,634,521

DRAGLINE SCRAPER Filed June 2, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 HEJZS- INVENTOR. REIEIERT HENDEREEIN WILLIAM K MllELElTHLlN case; "means limiting the rearward Patented Apr. 14, 1953 DRAGLINE SCRAPER Robert" Henderson and William K. McGlothlin, Climax, C010.

Application-June 2, 1948,.Seria1 N0..30,6'73.

12 Claims.

'Thisinvention relatesto drag line. scrapers.

. Anobject of.the, invention. is..t0. provide a. drag j'li'nei'scraper that. may be used toadvantage for the. scraping of downhill slopesas well asfor the scraping of 'levelground and up-grade. slopes.

Another obj eat is. to provide a scraper. inwhich the scraper blade. is subjectediby, tension on the drag line to a force. tendingtqrotatethe. scraper blade. into the ground.

Another. object isto, provide a scraper inwhich drag line tension is. applied first. to. the. scraper blade to rotate the latter into the ground to obtain an efiecti've initial bite and'thereafter to the .scraper'to drag thesame. with its loadtowards a discharge point;

Another object is to provide a drag line scraper in whichthe scraper. blade can bereadily replaced when worn..

Yetanother object is to provide a drag line scraper wherein the frame is sup-ported by the scraper blade and the drag line is attached to the scraper blade and led forwardly through a guide on the scraper. frame.

A'further objectof the. invention is to provide a scraper: in which the scraper blade or back plateis .attached to the scraper: arms by. pivots insucha' manner that, when the scraper is moved rearwardly, the bladewill fold forwardly and upwardly permitting the scraper to, slide over the material.

Anotherobject is to provide a drag line scraper in which the center ofgravity will be lower when the scraper. is-moved rearwardly than when itis moved forwardly.

Typically; the drag line'scraper. of the invention includes ascraper. blade and a. frame supported by'the' scraper blade, drag line anchor means on the scraper and means actuated by drag line tension torotate the bottom of the scraper blade in. adirection away from. the.di

recti'on ofpullof the drag line. Preferably, the I scraper includes drag line guide means on the scraper space'd'jfrom the drag lineanchor means,

more particularly positioned on the frame forwardly'of the drag line anchor means.

Advantageously; the scraper blade may be pivoted to the frame'on an axis transverse thereto for-swinging movements forwardly about the 'pivot axis to a closed position and rearwardly In such swinging about theaxis to an open position.

movement of' the blade is provided.

The invention will. be described'with greater particularity-and other objects and advantages 'irraccordance: with the invention;

'FigIZ. is" a" vertical sectional; view taken along the line 2""-2. of Fi 1'1 Fig. 3 is a verticalisectional view similarv to. the view of Fig.2 of a modified form of thescraper;

Fig. ,4 is a horizontal sectionalview ofa sl'usher drift showing. the positions of the slusher'. hoist and tail block;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view oflthe. slusher drift of Fig. 4'showing a draglinescraperinthe drift;

Fig...6 is a plan.vi'ew of; anotherfform of;scraper looking through the,plane 66 of; Fig. 7;.

Fig. 7 is .an end elevation looking in. thedirection of. arrows 1-4 ofFig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 ofiFi g. 6; and

Fig. 9 is a. section taken on the line, 9'.9.'of Fig. '7.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to;F'ig s. 1 and 2 thereof, the drag line scraper shown has a frame including rearwardly diverging arms lfii'd' united at. the front to providea. nose portion II. The frame arms are curved downwardly at the rear to provide depending mounting members |2--l2.'.. A back plate I3. is secured to the" forward faces of'the mounting members as by weldingand a scraper blade [4 is. secured to the forwardface of the back plate; as by. screws l5; for example.

It will thus be seen that the scraper bladel"4 may be removed from the back plate I3byunfastening'the screws I5 and may be replacedby a new blade when badly worn.

In effect, the blade and back plate-may be considered as a unit having an upstanding drag line anchor is centrally positioned at the top of the back plate. The anchor has an eye H through which the' tail of the drag line 18 is passed and to which the drag line is hitched, as shown.

At the forward end of the s-craper'frame a drag line guide having-an upstanding eye I9 is posi- 'tioned in a slot 28 in the nose II. A pin or key 2| retains theguide member in the slot; The drag line is 'passes'forwardl'y from the anchor [8 through the-eye l9of the guide andto the drum of a hoist or mother pulling mechanism, as shown in Fig. 5.

Gusset plates 2222 are provided atthe rear of' the scraper and" a chain yoke 23' isattached to the-gusset plates by bolts 26a A haul -back cable, as shown in Fig. 5, may be'securedto the yoke. for returning the scraper to a starting'position.

In operation, the pull of the drag line' on the scraper assembly at the point of attachment ronot hitched directly to the anchor It".

,the scraper.

to cause the scraper to take up a substantially nected at 4| to the rear end of the scraper.

uniform full load of material whether it is work ing up or down a slope or on substantially level ground. I y

In this connection, the drag line guide I9 plays an important part in maintaining the blade oriented transversely to the direction of motion of the scraper while transmitting vertical components of force between the nose of the scraper to the, dragrline. The principal tension component of the drag line is applied to the anchor member IS.

The scraper of 3 is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Double primed reference numerals in Fig. 3 designate parts corresponding to parts designated by the same but unprimed numerals in Figs. 1 and 2. V

In the scraper of Fig. 3, the drag line I 8" is Instead, ahelical spring 25 has a threaded shank 23 extending through the eye of the anchor and secured therein by a nut 21. The forward end of the spring has a hook 28 to which the drag line is hitched.

The drag line is passed forwardly through the nose guide lll". A stop member 29 is clamped or otherwise firmly secured to the drag line rearwardly of the nose guide and is so positioned on the drag line that the spring 25 must be stretched a substantial amount by tension of the drag line Qmember 29 to engage the nose guide I9" and transfer some of the pullin force to the nose of The stop member effectively limits the tension applied to the spring and correspondingly limits the digging torque applied to the scraper.

The provision of a spring connection as in Fig.

3 adapts the scraper to work on loose gravel piles, in which use a scraper without the spring connection would tend to bury itself in the gravel.

It will be understood that the spring could be of the compression type if placed on the rearward side of the anchor l6.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, a brief description will be given of the operation of a scraping system employing the scraper of the invention in the slusher drift of a mine.

In Figs. 4 and 5, reference numeral 36 designates a slusher drift into which material is delivered through the laterally inclined fingers 3|. The hopper is indicated by reference numeral 32, and the slusher hoist by reference numeral 33. No attempt is made to show the actual construction of the hoist as this is conventional, comprising, as it does, one or more drums 34 that are rotated by means of a motor 35. Positioned at oneend of the slusher drift is a tail block 36 that is firmly anchored to a post 31 in the manner indicated in Fig. 5. A head block 38 may be suitably anchored on the other side of the slusher hoist if necessary, as indicated in Fig. 5.

'The, haul back cable is designated by reference numeral 39. The scraper is indicated in a general way in Fig. 5, where it is designated in its entirety by reference numeral 40. The haul back cable is connected to one of the hoist drums and passes around the tail block 36 and is then con- The nose or haul cable 42 is fastened to a hoist drum and taken through the head block 38, if necessary, or direct to the scraper and through the haul cable guide 69 on the nose of the scraper and fastened to the back plate at 62 as shown in Fig. 8. The haul cable can slide freely through the guide 68, thereby guiding the nose of the scraper while pulling substantially entirely on the back plate. The scraper wearing blade is designated by reference numeral 43. i I

By operating the hoist first in one direction and then the other, it is evident that the scraper can be moved towards and away from the discharge point, and since the head block is on the other side of the discharge point from that of the tail block, the scraper can be moved to a position directly over the discharge point.

Having thus described in a general way the manner in which the scraper is operated in a slusher drift, the construction of the scraper of Figs. 6 through 9 will now be described in detail.

In the drawing, Figs. 6-9, reference numerals 46 designate the scraper arms which are united at the front end 41, which is referred to as the nose, and diverge rearwardly terminating in downwardly extending hook portions 48 which terminate at points 49, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The scraper blade includes a back plate 50 which is preferably a steel casting provided with a plurality of reenforcing ribs or beams 51. At the sides of the back plate are rearwardly extending loops 52 through which the ends 48 of the scraper arms extend as shown in Figs. 6, '7, 8, and 9. Pivot bolts or pins 53 extend through the walls of loops 52 and through openings in the downwardly extending ends 43 of the scraper arms.

Any connection between the arms and the back that permits the back to fold in relation to the arms and also holds the back in digging or open position may be substituted for the one shown.

,The parts are so arranged and proportioned that the back plate can fold upwardly into a position adjacent the lower surfaces of the scraperarms, as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 8. The replaceable steel lines or digging plate 43 is secured .to the back plate by bolts 54 in such a manner that it can be removed and replaced when it is worn to such an extent as to require renewal. At this point attention is called to the fact that plate 43, which takes the major part of the wear, can be replaced without any serious amount of labor or expense, whereas in some of the former constructions of scrapers, it has been necessary to scrap the entire scraper whenever the scraper blade has become badly worn.

Gusset plates 55 are provided to which short chains .56 are connected by means of chain clevises 51. The other ends of these chains are connected with the bridle ring 58. A rope hitch 5!! is also connected to the bridle ring as shown -ing through, which the haul rope. 42 extends,

in the manner shown'in Figs. d-andfi. i secured 3 2&345621 toerthauppen edge; Off. they back'zplate; is: at. haul rope hitch or anchor 62 and.th'e."- rear"end*of therhaul' cableiisr connectedxtovthis:anchor in the Lthatzthe rope isi loopedzaroundrtheeshank of the" anchoria-ndi the: end. of. the: ropetis *placed under- 'neathitl'iattpart designatedi'by referencenumeral 633 Any/typeofi hitch; fastened: in any: position,

i may bet used so': longz'as' 'it controls the. opening ofz'the scraperbackz From thea'boveidescription it will be seen' that thescraper which" "forms the subj ect' or? this" invention isiso constructed that, when the tension in: the. rope is such as to .move' the" scraper' towards 'the: tail 1 block," the: scraper blade. will" fold;

'upwardly against the scraper arms; thereby'per- 1 mittin'g thee scraper to' slideover the material.

Due to the inclination? of the 'backplate;there isavery littletendencyto move the material to- Wards the tail block. In the folded position; the.

'center ofgravity: ofthe' scraper is very low and fi'irrthis; reason-the tendency for the scraper to when passing-* over" the rough upper surface the material" is very small.

The fact- 'that tl'i'e back' plate'folds; prevents:

the scraper-from d'raggingmaterial towards" the :tail block and therefore obviates the necessity of expen'ding -a'alarge amount of time and labor "to 1 remove material thatmight otherwise be" brought 'to' this position".

"Let? ifinow be assumed that the scraper has beenmovedaster as desired towards the tail block a'n'd' that the slusher hoist is reversed to move it towards the discharge point or towards the left when VieWed' asin'F-i'gJS. The first effect of'applyin'g tension totherope anchored at 52 is to -turn the scraperblade in' a counter-clockwise'direction, bringing" it towhat may be called "open position. Afterth'e' blade hasbeen brought to this position, the entire assembly acts as a unit and upon further" application of tension through'the dragdine'the scraper digs into the materialwhich'accumulates'in front of the blade, causing thescraper to'continue the counter-clockwisemovementtuntil.stopp'edby the action ofthe drag'line" on the guide 601 In its. further forward movement the scraper will operate in substantially the'samemanner as the scraper of Figs. land 2:". Since headblock' 38 and tail" block 36 tare-positioned on" the opposite sides of the dis-- charge point; the scraper can be brought to a 'position' directly over the discharge point; .As soon": as the scraper has reached. itsxulti'mate; discharge position, the hoist is reversed and" the scraper folds, asitvismoved. back towards the.

taiLblock. This:operationiislrepeated as long as necessary ordesirabl'e.

The means for attaching the haul line to the scraper so :as to controhthe opening. of. thescraper or back plate when the scraper begins to move.

towards the'discharge point maybe-replaced by any. other suitable means,.if.desired, as thexprin- .cipal' object of this is, first of. all, to.-apply the iorce in' such a way that it willopen the scraper and bringthe parts into operative position.

The.-.fact that the scraper blade folds'when the scraper. is moved towards the tail b1ock;brings the back. plate into a position. inwhichitssurrace forms the wearing surfacefor this rearward movement instead of the liporedge of the scraper blade, as would be the case ifthefolding construction were not employed.

The-folding of the back'i'pl'ate and blade keeps the material fromaccumulat-ing aroun'd the tail block, thereby reducing Wear on the latter.

16 foldinggzactimmpermitszadigginge niopeization on any slope, due to.thesfaeiithatsthe scraper canrbe openeditov diggingtgiposition; atianyi'idesired place;

Fromithe foregoing description itciwilli'b -'seen that, :byrpravidingr the:scraper:zwith;asbladetthat folds: with: respect-stun the: scraperrarms: and =;With means; vfonexertingg'zu-forcemnrthebladeitenciing to move: it .intcsop'erative. pesitiontzwheneveri the tension in the hauliaropez' is:'exerted'iithereomcthe amount of power required tooperate'i'thezscraper 1isrgreatly'reduced anditzisiassured thattthe. blade will alwaysfopenz.andimnve'rtozazpositiomimwhich it will: gather-1a.: full: load of; material;

'Ita'WilL'be1understo0d: that the: severaI-Tormsmf 'thescraper. showntand d'escribed 'herein;areillustratives. of: the;.-:br0ad. scopeeof the: invention: and that various. modifications?will occur tcvthos'e si rilled-v in the wantin the light ofthi's: disclosure. For instance, it is contempiatedfithatthe spring and: stop memberrarrang ement'of Fig-.93 may be incorporated in: at scraper 1 of? the: foldingabfade type;.='as':. shown. inzEiga f6 :-.9;L Still: other: modifi'cations: will berreadiltpapparenti The :rotative movement of -the" scraper assembly under. pull of therdiag line. that'pauses the 1 bottom :of the scraperblade to 'rotate -ih' a directionsawayfromzthe r directiomofpull" of "the" drag lineis limited not only' by -the lifting action of the drag line" on :the-noseguide; as pointed out hereinbefore, butis' also limited'by any'mat'eri'al that?may bei'underthenosepf the scraper: If the material happens to be very fine-there -may not 'besumcientllimiting *action to thisrotativemovement to. prevent theiwscraper fi'omburyingi itself. However, the provision" of spring means in the drag line, as in th'e'scraper'of 3,for"-example, practically eliminates the tendency of "the' scraper to' bury itselfwhen'working over fine material.

This application is acontinuation -in-part "of our copending' application" Serial" No: 6659;9'13, filed May 15, 1946, for Drag- Line Sorapers; now abandoned.

Wes'claim: 1'. Adrag. line" scraper comprising" a scraper blade. forming the main .ground engaging support'for'the scraper in operation, a'forwardly extending frame supported" by theblad'e, and drag line anchor-"means on the scraperpositioned'above the line joining the bottom of the scraper blade and the l'c'ivvest p'ortionvof said frame-toproduce cooperation with a drag-line attached thereto an effective forward turning moment" ofthe scraperabout' the;ground'engagingportiomofthe "blades,

2;- A. drag-1ine=- scraper fCOmPIlSiDg a; scraper blade forming" the. main."ground engagihgtsup port"'for the scraperin operation; =aa forwardly extending frame'supporte'd bythebla'de', drag line anchor means: on the=-scraper.::.above the' bottom of the blade and drag linei'guide means-on said frame positioned} .to produce in cooperation Witha drag line att'ached thereto' an effective forward turning moment of the scraper" about-t the ground-engaging portion: of? the blade'i.

'S. A draglihe scrapencomprisingascraper blade forming the. main" ground engaging support for'the scraper in operation, a forwardly extending frame supporte'df by the blade; drag line anchor means-on the=scraper' a bovetherbot tolnof the blade and di'agi-lin'a'guide means 'on the" frame positioned above theil'ine'joihing' the bottom of the scraper blade and" thelowest portion of said frame to pro'duce in' -coop'erati" with -'.-a'- drag31inez attachedllthereto an -Peifectivetuming moment of the scraper about the ground-engaging portion of the blade.

4. A dragline scraper comprising a scraper blade forming the main ground-engaging sup- =.;port for the scraper in operat'on, a forwardly extending frame supported by the blade, dra .line anchor means on the scraper above the bottom of the blade and drag line guide means on the frame positioned above the line joining the bottom of the scraper blade and the lowest portion of said frame.

5. A drag line scraper comprising a scraper ,jbla-de forming the main ground-engaging support for thescraper in operat'on, a forwardly extending frame pivotally supported by the .blade, drag line anchor means on the scraper above the bottom of the blade and drag line guide means on the frame positioned above the line :joining the bottom of the scraper blade and the lowest portion of said frame.

6. A drag line scraper comprising a scraper blade formin the main ground-engaging sup- ..port for the scraper in operat'on, a forwardly extending frame supported by the blade, drag .linre anchor means on the scraper positioned above the line joining the bottom of the scraper .bladeand the lowest portion of said frame to produce in cooperation with a drag line attached 1 thereto aneffective forward turnin moment of the scraper about the ground-engaging portion of the blade, and haul-back line attaching means on the scraper below the level of said drag line anchor means.

'7. A drag line scraper comprising a scraper blade forming the main ground-engaging support for the scraper in operat'on, a forwardly extending frame rigidly supported by the blade, drag line anchor means on the scraper above the bottom of the blade and drag line guide means on the frame positioned above the line jo'ning n the bottom of the scraper blade and the lowest portion of said frame.

8. A drag line scraper including a scraper blade form ng the main ground-engaging supportfor the scraper in operation, a forwardly -the line joining the bottom of the scraper blade and the lowest portion of said frame, a drag line fastened to said anchor means and passing throughsaid guide -means, a springmember in said drag line, and means limting the flexing Y of said spring member to a preselected extent.

; 9. A drag line scraper including a scraper blade form ng the main ground-engaging support for the scraper in operation, a forwardly extending frame supported by the blade, haulback line attaching means on the back of said scraper blade intermediate the top and bottom edges thereof, drag line anchor means on said scraper blade above said haul-back line attaching means, drag line guide means on said frame -forward of said drag line anchor means above the line joining the bottom of the scraper blade and the lowest portion of said frame, a drag line fastened to said anchor means and passing through said guide means, a spring member in said-drag'line intermediate said anchor means and said guide means, and a stop member on said drag line positioned to engage said guidemeans when said spring member is flexed to a predetermined extent.

10. A drag line scraper including a scraper blade forming the main ground-engaging support for the scraper in operation, a forwardly extending frame pivotally supported by the blade for swinging movements about a horizontal transverse axis, means limiting the amount of rearward swinging movement of the blade with respect to the frame, haul-back line attaching means on the back of said scraper blade intermediate the bottom edge thereof and the pivotal axis of said frame, drag line anchor means on said scraper blade above the pivotal axis of said frame, and drag line guide means on said frame forward of said drag line anchor means above the line joining the bottom of scraper blade and the lowest portion of said frame.

11'. A drag line scraper including a scraper blade form'ng the main ground-engaging support for the scraper in operation, a forwardly extending frame pivotally supported by the blade for swinging movements about a horizontal transverse axis, co-operating stop means on said blade-and on said frame limiting the amount of rearward swinging movement of the blade with respect to the frame, haul-back line attaching means on the back of said scraper blade intermediate the bottom edge thereof and the pivotal axis of said frame, drag line anchor means on said scraper blade above the pivotal axis of said frame, and drag line guide means on said frame forward of said drag line anchor means above the line joining the bottom of the scraper blade an the lowest portion of said frame. 7

12. A drag line scraper including a scraper blade forming the main ground-engaging support for the scraper in operation, a. forwardly extending frame comprising two arms united at their front ends to form a nose, the arms diverging rearwardly and being pivotally supported at their rear ends by the blade for swinging movements about a horizontal transverse axis, cooperating stop means on said blade and on said frame limiting the amount of rearward swinging movement of the blade with respect to the frame, haul-back line attaching means on the back of said scraper blade intermediate the bottom edge thereof and the pivotal axis of said frame, drag l ne anchor means on said scraper blade above the pivotal axis of said frame, and

drag line guide means on the nose of said frame above the line joining the bottomof the scraper blade and the lowest portion of said frame ROBERT HENDERSON. WILLIAM K. MCGLOFIHLIN.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

